Though his outfit may suit his calm, cool and collected demeanor, Twelvyy’s live show is anything but tranquil. The 26-year-old Bronx/Harlem native performs with a certain, unquantifiable tenacity that earns him rap game John Starks status in the eyes of many.

We sat down with Twelvyy post-show to discuss the Knicks, college hoops and upcoming A$AP releases. Among the man also know as 212 Mel’s early influences were Em, Cam’ron and Snoop—now, he’s looking to pave his own legacy alongside his partners: Rocky, Ferg, Nast, Ant and the rest of the Mob.

SLAM: What was your initial reaction when the Knicks drafted Kristaps Porzingis?

A$AP Twelvyy: My reaction was, ‘Who the fuck is that?’ I think I was in Europe with Joey Bada$$ and Nyck Caution. And Nyck Caution is a huge Knick fan. He’s also a great basketball player and a great rapper. Shout out to Pro Era. He was like ‘Yo man, we just got Porzingis.’ And me and him was just talking, laughing. And then [Porzingis] started ballin’, and I was just like, Whoa. He’s cool though.

SLAM: With another losing season for the Knicks in the books, what are your feelings about the team at this stage?

AT: Lil B blessed the Knicks for me when I was with him not too long ago, and that’s all that needs to be said.

SLAM: That means you guys are going to win the ‘chip in like, two years, then.

AT: That’s a fact! Shout out to Lil B. Ayo, and Golden State? Look, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like the Cleveland Cavaliers are gon’ take it this year. [The Warriors] are gonna run out of juice soon.

SLAM: If you could pick a starting five of your favorite Knicks players of all-time, what would it be?

AT: Just ‘cuz I like him, I’d have Charlie Ward run the 1, Allan Houston at the 2, at the 3 I would have [Latrell] Sprewell, 4 Carmelo, and 5 [Patrick] Ewing. But it’s like I’m forgetting Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley, so those are my backups.

SLAM: What moment pops into your mind when you think of growing up as a Knicks fan in the ’90s?

AT: I ain’t gon’ lie, because I wasn’t fuckin’ with the Knicks. Like, how was Patrick Ewing getting dogged like that? How’d he miss that layup and shit? I was mad.

SLAM: You mean when he missed off the back rim against the Pacers in Game 7?

AT: Yeah. I ain’t gon’ lie, I’m a huge Kobe fan, so I was a huge Lakers fan.

SLAM: His career is over this week.

AT: Right before the [Achilles] injury, I got to see him the game before that, bro. Against Minnesota. Bro, it was like God just let me do that. I was like ‘Word?’ Then he got hurt and I was like, ‘Wow. He’ll never be the same.’ Then he got hurt again, and I was like, ‘Oh, now it’s over.’

SLAM: What’s your own game like? Did you play growing up, either organized or pickup?

AT: I used to play AAU for Kips Bay in the Bronx on the same team as Kemba Walker. Kemba Walker is incredible. I was heavy into basketball. I don’t know if y’all know Corey Fisher—he went to Villanova a few years back. I was at the pick-up game when he scored 105 points. I went to the game with him. So I’ve been around basketball my whole life. Like I said, I was a point forward. I’ve got good vision, and I’ll find the open man.

SLAM: What can you tell me about that day when Corey Fisher dropped 105?

AT: It was at Watson, at the Watson Basketball Classic. Every time he pulled up from the three it was just money. I was just smoking like ‘Whoaaa.’ I was blasted, and it was just incredible. It was before the cell phones and all that. You had to have been there and been watching the game.

SLAM: Do you have any memories from Rucker Park or any other legendary court in the city?

AT: Nah, I wasn’t really going to Rucker like that. I would go to Kingdome—Kingdome was real popular. My memory from that was me and Yams smoking right behind the bench when Puff Daddy was coaching.

SLAM: Who are your favorite players in the league currently?

AT: Paul George, Brandon Knight, TJ Warren. I ain’t gon’ lie, I like the whole Phoenix Suns roster. [Eric] Bledsoe’s nice, [Devin] Booker’s gonna be great. I like the Heat, I like my man Justise Winslow—that’s my guy right there. It’s great for him. He’s gonna learn some shit from D-Wade and Pat Riley. They might go deep in the playoffs. I’m thinking that’s gonna be the Eastern Conference Finals more than likely—Heat versus Cavs. And I got the Cavs winning, but I know it’s gonna be a battle. Hopefully Kyrie gets his head in the game.

SLAM: Have any players reached out to the Mob and been like, ‘We really fuck with your music?’

SLAM: I heard that you wanted to go to Michigan when you were younger. As a New York native, how’d you become a Michigan fan?

AT: I guess it was the Fab Five shit. The black-on-black Nikes, the black socks, the baggy shorts. Maybe that’s why I didn’t play ball too well ‘cuz it was like, if I had the Big East mentality I’d probably still be ballin’ today.

SLAM: I see you’ve got the bred Jordan Is on. What other kicks are in your current rotation?

AT: I just keep Is. I got ’99 IVs, I got ’99 Vs. I used to shit on n****s. But I don’t see no joy in it no more. I see everybody being crabs in the bucket with it. It’s like ‘Oh, I got these joints, I got these.’ And it’s like, all this shit ain’t that hard to find if you wanna look for it, people. And the prices n****s be paying for sneakers is like, what I paid for my ‘99s cheap! $250. Y’all paying thousands of dollars for these bumass—sneaker game dead, bro. I just wear Js or Nikes. I keep it Is or Air Max 90s. Air Max Zero is the best sneaker out right now.

SLAM: You just put out the track “Presidents” with Rocky and Nast as part of the Wavy Wednesday series. Are these songs you’ve been sitting on or are they brand new?

AT: Half and half. Half were brand new, and half have been sitting in the vault for three or four years. ‘Presidents’ was supposed to be on the first Mob tape, so I’d say ‘Presidents’ is 2013. So all these records are pretty, pretty vintage at this point. Pretty classic, pretty sat on. You just let the energy of the record build itself. You don’t speak on it, you just leave it. That’s how we do—there’s no pressure. Everybody says ‘pressure makes diamonds,’ but also pressure causes confusion. We do shit on our own time.

SLAM: What’s up next for you and the rest of the A$AP Mob?

AT: We got the Cozy Tapes, then we got Ferg’s album, Always Strive and Prosper, and then my project, 2127301090. My project has been done for years, bro. If I’d have rushed it before, I probably would’ve fell on my face. So now it’s perfect timing. It sounds like an album, so I’ll probably run with it as an album. I ain’t got no fear of it not selling as much. But I got phenomenal music on it. The quality is outstanding. I’m not looking for the money. I’m looking for the message. I wanna know that I touched you in a way that you’ll remember me forever. As with “Last Year Being Broke,” that’s something that you can live by every day or every year.

Former Villanova University guard Corey Fisher, who played with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, has agreed to play with Spanish team FIATC Joventut next season. Fisher last played professionally in Turkey, where he averaged 17.2 points, 4.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 30 games. Via EuroBasket.com: “Fisher averaged 15.6 ppg, 4.8 apg and 2.8 rpg for his school as a senior. After that, He participated at 2011 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (Pre-NBA Draft). He had 9 ppg, 6 apg and 3 rpg for 3 games at this event. This summer Fisher played for the Minnesota Timberwolves at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He appeared 5 times for the team collecting 6.4 ppg, 1.6 apg and 1.4 rpg.”

By this time, you probably already know: in the most highly anticipated streetball game of the summer, Ooh Way Records handed Team NIKEits first loss, 66-61. Episode 7 takes us behind the scenes, giving us an inside and detailed look at Team NIKE and the game that ensued. As game-time slowly approached, both teams arrived to the most populated Dyckman Park crowd in the history of the league’s existence. After a few delays, the players were finally able to get on the court and take care of business for their teams. Team Ooh Way Records Coach Tony Rosa had his players in full attack mode, as the two heavyweight teams traded buckets all night long. Corey “The Priceless One” Fisher put the final nail in the coffin with two free throws to seal the upset victory. After the game, fingers were pointed and excuses were made: the Boys in Black were taken out of their element, didn’t play as a team, and didn’t play with their signature high-level defensive tenacity. Although they suffered defeat, Coach Bingo is still focused on the task at hand: winning the Dyckman Championship.

Villanova’s been in the news a lot this past week, for better—Corey Fisher’s 105 point game in the Bronx—and worse. What’s the “worse”? Shooter Taylor King is leaving the team and heading back to California, where he’ll enroll at USC, according to Philly.com: “Taylor King says that he loved Villanova and appreciated the two years he spent at the Main Line school, but that he needed to return to his home in Southern California to deal with personal matters. King, who withdrew from the Wildcats’ basketball team in June but had intended to return to Villanova this fall, said Thursday he has transferred to the University of Southern California, just a short trip from his home in Huntington Beach, Calif. The 6-foot-6 forward, who is entering his senior year academically, made the decision to move back west after he returned home following the end of summer school. ‘I just wanted to be back home,’ King said. ‘I needed to be back with my family. I have personal issues I need to deal with and I had to go back. But it’s all right. It’s good.’ King said he considered two NAIA schools in California, Azusa Pacific and Concordia, where he could have played immediately next season. But in going to USC, he’ll have to sit out the 2010-11 season as a transfer, and then have only one year of eligibility left… King played his freshman year at Duke, then had to sit out a year after transferring to Villanova.”

The streets were talking all week, telling a remarkable tale of an unprecedented scoring outburst in the Bronx (though, truth be told, there have too many 60+ outburst this summer to count). As we knew at the SLAM dome from some readers at the scene of the BX crime, turns out the talk was warranted. Dana O’Neil has specifics: “It’s true. The Legend of Corey Fisher has been affirmed. The Villanova guard said he did, in fact, score 105 points in a summer-league game, confirming the message board and Twitter-fed buzz circling the past week. ‘I kept scoring and people kept yelling,’ Fisher said. ‘I had 72 after the third quarter and I just kept scoring and scoring. I didn’t realize I was near 100 and then I go to the free throw line and people started going crazy.’ Fisher’s Wilt Chamberlain moment came during a Watson Basketball Classic Summer League game in the Bronx. He swears there was defense — ‘double-team, box-and-one, zone, man,’ he said — and can’t recall the final score but knows he did break ‘someone’s record.’

“The someone is Fly Williams, the streetball legend who helped coin the unforgettable Austin Peay chant — ‘Fly is open; let’s go Peay!’ Williams dropped 100 during an IS8 League game in Jamaica, Queens in 1978.”

Happy it’s Friday? I don’t know where this week has gone. Durant/Green/Westbrook and Co. in town tonight and I’m excited.

My hands are also tired of typing. I had two liveblogs last night and those college games took forever! Villanova took down Duke… Well, slaughtered them would be a better way to put it. How many of you had them defeating Duke? How many of you are happy people today?

16-60. That’s what the Blue Devils shot for the game.

And, dammit. Didn’t my heart pull for Paulus when they took him out. I can’t handle the seniors when they finish on the losing end of things. Or when they foul out. It’s such a look of helplessness and despair. Bah.

Speaking of heartbreakers, on Raptors NBATV, which is Canada’s version of NBATV, they’ve got this commercial that they just played as I’m here writing this, going through highlights of all of the Raptors success over the years. PAIN-FUL. How did we get to this point?

I also had Memphis winning, if we’re counting. Oops. Kinda dropped the ball on that one, didn’t I?

If you haven’t read Michael Grange’s article clearing up some details on the Chris Bosh situation, I recommend that you do so. Looks like Bosh was making arrangements to take care of his daughter before she was born and there is more to this story than the side we heard a couple of days ago. Hopefully this situation can get resolved quickly and these parents can love their daughter and respect each other.

One more link for you this morning, amazing piece on Corey Fisher. Written by Dana O’Neil, this is right up there with Jackie MacMullan’s piece on Wade and then the Jenkins article on Lamar. Some fantastic pieces coming out lately. This one really killed me. You know there is room inside of my heart for Fisher!

One more NCAA note: Syracuse plays tonight. While the Raptors play. I will be watching Madness on Demand on this mac of mine while at the game. You know it.

Oh yes, according to Russ, Wade became the first player under 6’4″ to record 100 blocks. Kinda crazy, isn’t it?

Okay, quiet NBA night, Lakers over Detroit 92-77, to snap a nine-game losing streak in Detroit. While the Pistons lead early, the Lakers used a 20-0 run to take care of business and quiet the Palace. With Will Bynum as your leader scoring a career-high 25 points to go with a career-high 11 assists, you know it’s not the normal Pistons lineup out there. Still without Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and of course, Allen Iverson, the Pistons struggled to put points on the board, with Antonio McDyess being the only other Piston to reach double figures with his 14-point 12-rebound double-double. The Lakers were led by Kobe Bryant’s 30 points and 7 assists as Pau Gasol scored 12 points to go with 11 rebounds and Lamar Odom had 12 points to go with 10 boards.

The Bulls rolled over Miami, 106-87 and with that loss, Dwyane Wade took his name out of the running and essentially handed Bron the MVP trophy. Yes, it’s only one game, but I think by now, the award is safely in LeBron’s reach. I don’t think the Heat can come back Didn’t catch any of this one, but it looks like the third quarter was the story as the Heat collapsed, getting outscored 32-14 in the period, as Chicago ran away with this one late. John Salmons led the way with 27 points while Ben Gordon scored 18 and Kirk Hinrich had 15. Tyrus Thomas also scored 15 points to go with 12 rebounds. Wade led the Heat with 31 points while Udonis Haslem scored 13 and Jermaine O’Neal added 12.

One night after getting a big win against the Jazz, the Suns fell to the Blazers. With each game more and more crucial in the Suns race for eighth in the Western Conference, losing 129-109 to Portland doesn’t help Phoenix inch any closer to the Mavs. Tired legs in the third quarter doomed the Suns who were content to try and outscore the Blazers. Getting outscored 35-22 didn’t play into that plan as they gave up 60% shooting to Portland in the game. LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Blazers while Brandon Roy had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Rudy Fernandez had 23 points off of the bench on 8-10 shooting from the floor. The Suns were led by Shaquille O’Neal’s 20 points as Jason Richardson scored 16 and Steve Nash added 15.

With apologies to Paul Robeson High School of Human Services’ thrilling buzzer-beating win over Math, Civics and Sciences Charter School in the first round of the Philadelphia Public League playoffs, the best high school game I saw Thursday was USA Today’s No. 1 team, St. Patrick’s of New Jersey vs. the No. 6-ranked team in the nation, Huntington High School of West Virginia. St. Patrick’s, who I saw play twice in the Primetime Shootout, features Villanova-bound point guard CoreyFisher and Memphis-bound swingman JeffRobinson, while Huntington is led by power forward PatrickPatterson, the nation’s top uncommitted senior and future USC Trojan O.J.Mayo. Mayo can drop buckets on anyone he faces and might be the most talented guard in the country, but Fisher is also a big-game player who doesn’t force the issue and makes his teammates better. Although I hadn’t seen Huntington play yet, I was pretty confident that based on their discipline, team D and floor leadership of Fisher, St. Pat’s would win with ease—unless Mayo put on Derrick Rose vs. Oak Hill-type performance.

Fisher opened the game’s scoring with an and-one in transition, which was immediately countered by Mayo with a sharp left-to-right crossover for his own lauyp. The Bronx-bred Fisher’s NYC playground savvy, coupled with the crazy athletic Robinson showing off his perimeter touch and the Celtics’ smothering D looked to be too much for the West Virginia natives to handle in the first quarter. Mayo, with highly-touted soph DexterStrickland checking him, made some shots, but looked to be forcing things and couldn’t get his usually-lethal outside J to drop. Robinson and supersub QuintrellThomas, a 6-8 junior, pounded the offensive boards for St. Pat’s and helping to neutralize Huntington’s Patterson on the inside. St. Pat’s looked somewhat unstoppable at this point and even with Huntington sixth man ChrisEarly (a 6-6 swingman committed to Oklahoma) burying a trey to stop the bleeding, St. Pat’s held a 21-7 lead at the end of one.
The second quarter started like the first, with Mayo hitting a corner trey, followed by Fisher getting a steal and going coast-to-coast for another and-one layup. All of a sudden, Mayo started getting hot, Patterson finally got some touches on the interior and Huntington cut the double-figure deficit to 9. The Jersey squad, however, keeps striking back, with a Robinson three-pointer and a graceful Strickland transition dunk over Huntington’s BruceSenior highlighting their own run. Speaking of Strickland, while he faced a daunting task in defending Mayo, he showed tremendous basketball IQ and effort for a young player. Thomas, an inside warrior, displayed similar traits, as he was all over the boards and did all the dirty work. Fisher picked up his third foul with about two minutes left in the half, but stayed in the game and continued to attack the basket and score. With the second quarter winding down, Huntington made another run, with Mayo hitting a trey from way out, Early making a steal and finishing in transition and another Mayo 3 right before the halftime buzzer to make it a 36-33 St. Pat’s advantage at the break. Mayo had 16, Fisher had 13 and Robinson had 12 at intermission.
The two stars continued their pattern of trading punches to begin quarters, as Mayo tied the game with a 3 to start the second half, countered by a Fisher trey. Patterson started to make more of an impact on the game, demonstrated by a nice pass out of a double team to Senior for a layup, then a putback of an Early miss later on. Robinson actually showed signs of possessing an in-between game, as the Celtics’ southpaw puts the ball on the floor and hits a nice lefty floater. At this point, it pretty much became the Mayo/Fisher show. Mayo made a tough baseline floater, Fisher comes back with a teardrop (’07 Mark Jackson) after a pretty spin move around Mayo. O.J. cuts backdoor off an inbounds play, then banks in a fadeaway. Fisher counters with a pull-up J from 15 feet. Fisher uses a fake to free himself, then steps back to smoothly hit a trey. O.J. beats a double team with a hesitation move, then knocks down a contested deep deuce. With the floor cleared out, Fisher goes right at Mayo, gets separation with a left-to-right crossover, draws the contact and hits a hanging and-one off the glass. Mayo pulls up on a three-on-one break and steps back to hit a 3, stops to tie his shoe, then commits a foul to stop play and double-knot his sneaker. High school basketball at its best. St. Pat’s held a 57-53 lead after three quarters of play.
Mayo opened the fourth with a tough drive, then found Early with a lovely one-handed bounce pass for a bang in transition to tie the game. Off a scramble, Fisher uses his court vision to dime it to Thomas for a wide-open dunk and on the next possession, feeds Strickland for a layup. After a Patterson putback, a wild sequence ensues—Thomas makes a save to prevent a backcourt violation, then Early punches Fisher’s layup—Mayo gets a finger roll on the break and the game is tied again. Then, Huntington senior guard JamaalWilliams gets a steal off an inbounds pass and cruises in for a layup to give Huntington its first lead with about four minutes left in regulation. The frenetic back-and-forth play continues, with some controversial calls going the Celtics’ way in between, until Fisher knocks down a trey from the top of the key and Strickland makes a hard cut to get a layup off a nice dime from Thomas to put St. Pat’s up five with about two minutes to go. Out of a timeout, the Celtics went to a 2-3 zone for the first time and Mayo misses badly a 3. After another crazy possession, punctuated by a great defensive recovery and blocked shot by Patterson, St. Pat’s stayed aggressive instead of milking the clock and after failing to score, Mayo hits a floater to bring Huntington squad within three. With under a minute on the clock, St. Pat’s holds the ball and eventually gets it to Thomas down low, but Patterson makes another outstanding block to give Huntington the ball back. The ball goes to Mayo, of course, and he banks in a trey from the top of the key to tie the game with about 30 seconds to play. Neither team can score again in regulation and the game goes to OT with both squads knotted at 70.

In overtime, Fisher starts the scoring with a tough layup on the break, followed by a deep Mayo trey ball to put Huntington up one. Fisher then penetrates, draws the D and finds Robinson for a power dunk to get the lead back for St. Pat’s. With the athletic Robinson now guarding Mayo, he uses a screen to hit an ever deeper trey to give Huntington a two-point advantage. Fisher comes right back with a pull-up J in the lane to tie the game at 76. With about a minute left, Huntington elects to hold the ball, but Mayo passes it to teammate MichaelTaylor, who turns it over. Fisher ends up with the rock, pushes it and finds Robinson for a layup on the break to gain a two-point lead. With St. Pat’s not yet in the bonus, Mayo is fouled and hits a tough shot—but it happens after the whistle and doesn’t count. Huntington inbounds the ball with less than 30 seconds left and has multiple attempts from deep to win it—Mayo took the final shot—and after Thomas corrals the final board, St. Pat’s throws it long to run the clock out. Game. St. Pat’s wins it, 78-76.

In the end, even though Mayo came up huge, Fisher’s almost equal performance, St. Pat’s mettle and timely contributions from the other Celtics were too much for the home team to overcome. For Huntington, Mayo finished with 47 points, including nine treys, and six boards, while Patterson contributed with 10 points, 12 boards and six blocks. For St. Pat’s, Fisher had 37 and six dimes in his mano a mano matchup with his good friend, Robinson dropped 23 and Thomas chipped in with 8 points and 12 boards. Next up for St. Pat’s after defending their top national ranking is the New Jersey state playoffs, where they’ll most likely have to face Bob Hurley Sr.’s undefeated St. Anthony’s squad, the third-ranked team in the country. Huntington will attempt to win its third consecutive West Virginia state chip.

As someone who’s written a decent amount of features for the PUNKS section of SLAM, as well as few for the PUNKS special issue, I get to see and talk to a lot of high school players. While there are a lot of great hoops hotbeds throughout the country, the DC metro area (which includes the Maryland suburbs and Northern VA) is always among the best.

I recently spoke to one of the area’s top players, 6-0, 190-pound point guard Chris Wright of St. John’s College High School in the District, which plays in one of the nation’s most competitive league’s, the WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference). Wright, who signed with Georgetown in the fall, is the proverbial straw that stirs the drink for St. John’s, which is the Washington Post’s current No. 1-ranked team in the area (although they’ll probably take a hit after Tuesday night’s one-point loss to league rival Paul VI of VA). He’s a kid who’s been a local name for a while now, ever since he was a 6-year-old playing (and holding his own) with his older brother’s middle school-aged AAU team.

A high school basketball beat writer for a DC newspaper described Wright, who’s currently averaging just under 24 ppg, as “a good of a scorer you’re going to find on the high school level. He can shoot, take the ball to the basket and he’s smart on top of that.”

Added scout Van Johnson (more from him later), Wright “knows when his team needs him to score and knows when his team needs him to distribute the ball. He’s a legit top-25 player in the nation.”

Wright discussed his commitment to Georgetown, his rivalry with future teammate Austin Freeman, the recruiting process, his favorite players, his workout routine and more. Basically, this an opportunity to learn more about a kid you’ll see on TV for the next few years. With no further adieu, here’s Chris Wright…

On committing to Georgetown:
It was mostly Coach Thompson. He basically personally recruited me himself. I felt comfortable with the team and felt we could win a championship my freshman year. Just being home, the school, the team. He didn’t promise me anything, but he said I have a very good chance to play big minutes as a freshman. I don’t know if I’m gonna start, but if I don’t I know I’ll contribute. There were too many schools on the east coast for me to follow Coach Sendek to Arizona State (Chris previously committed to NC State, before Herb Sendek was fired and subsequently hired by Arizona State). Freshman year, we’re winning the chip. Mark my words.

On playing with high school rival and fellow DC area top senior Austin Freeman (Dematha) in college:

Actually, we’re real good friends. We’re enemies on the court because of the rivalry, but off the court we’re the best of friends. I always wanted to play with Austin. We had chances to play with each other (in AAU), but it never worked out. This time, when he called me to play on his team, the timing was right. We know that Georgetown is coming back. Me and Austin are both anxious to get there. We know we’re gonna be a part of something good and we just wanna keep it going.

On Georgetown’s Princeton-style offense:
People call it the Princeton offense, but in the Princeton offense people don’t usually have the opportunity to create for themselves. They just haven’t had the players where they can be creative as a team.

On the best players he’s played against:Ty Lawson (UNC freshman point guard) and Nigel Munson (Virginia Tech freshman point guard). Both are very crafty and know the game very well. Tywon’s just so explosive and Nigel’s just one of those players that with his handle, you can’t take the ball from him and you can’t leave him open because he can knock down shots.

On his most memorable experience:
It had to be Dematha, my sophomore year, in the playoffs. We lost by one and I missed the game-winning shot. For my best game, I’d say it was when I dropped 53 on eight threes in an AAU game.

On the player he’s most likely to match up with:OJ Mayo because, to me, he’s too cocky. I mean, he’s good, but I don’t know how good he really is.

On who he most looks forward to matching up with in college:
Just the whole Big East. Villanova, with Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and those guys. Syracuse, with Johnny Flynn and Scoop.

On his goals for the season:
To win the WCAC (DC’s Catholic league, arguably the toughest high school league in the nation) championship and the City Title game (DC’s Catholic league champ vs. DC’s public league champ). For myself, to go All-met for the third time and win All-Met player of the year.

On making the McDonald’s All-American game:
Those things are politics. It’s no way that Paul Harris (Syracuse freshman) should not have made the McDonald’s game last year. I wanna make it, but if I don’t, I wont cry over it.

On the strengths of his game:
My speed and quickness and ability to create shots for other players.

On his weaknesses:
Full court man-to-man defense.

On his favorite high school player to watch:Austin (Freeman) because he can score in so many ways. People don’t know, but he’s explosive. He will dunk on you.

On his favorite college player to watch:Dominic James and Kevin Durant. Dominic is quicker than me, but I think we’re kinda similar. He’s just exciting to watch, like when he destroyed Duke on national TV. That was ridiculous. With Kevin, he can take over a game whenever he wants to.

On his favorite NBA players to watch:AI and Chris Paul. I try to combine of both of them in my game.

On the craziest thing a coach did during his recruiting process:
A coach flew into my game (in DC) the same night after playing on the west coast.

On what he hated the most about the recruiting process:
The constant calls. Sometimes it’s just like, leave me alone.

On what NCAA rules he would change:
No SATs because the SAT is a way of keeping players out of college and a way of keeping great players from getting to the next level. (For the record, Chris is fully qualified for freshman eligibility and has a 3.48 GPA)

On his summer workout routine:
I work out every day in the summer. I lift weights three times a week, I shoot every day. Most days, I wake up around 8 and get in the gym by 9. Then I shoot for a couple hours, eat and lift weights for two hours. Then I shoot again, play pickup or go to Barry Farms (to play in the Goodman League, one of DC’s top summer leagues). As far as drills, I do a lot of ballhandling drills, full-court dribbling, stopping on a dime and shooting threes, all types of moves. I put up about 1,000 shots a day. I usually work out with my brother, OJ Wright (a junior at Bowie State, a strong D2 program)

On his top five high school players, by position:
At point guard, I have to pick myself. At the two, I’d say Eric Gordon. My man Austin at the three. Mike Beasley at the four. And I gotta say Kevin Love at the five.

I also spoke to Van Johnson about who he considers the best players in the region. Johnson is the head of scouting for Game Plan Sports, which runs the summer Nike Pro City League in DC, the Nike Peach Jam AAU tourney in Georgia and the Bay Ball Classic holiday high school tourney in Delaware. Here are his top 10 seniors in the DC area:

1. Austin Freeman, 6-5 wing, Dematha Catholic High School (Hyattsville, MD), Georgetown, pure scorer is a top-10 national player who can get buckets from anywhere on the court
2. Chris Wright, 6-1 point guard, St. John’s College High School, (Washington, DC), committed to Georgetown, strong and heady lead guard will help continue the Hoyas’ resurgence
3. John Flowers, 6-8 combo forward, St. Mary’s Ryken (Leonardtown, MD), West Virginia, versatile and athletic kid who will contribute immediately in college
4. Darnell Dodson, 6-6 wing, Eleanor Roosevelt High School (Greenbelt, MD), Pittsburgh, prolific shooter is adding strength and expanding his game before hitting the Big East
5. Jerai Grant, 6-9 power forward, Dematha Catholic High School (Hyattsville, MD), Clemson, son of former NBA player Harvey Grant and nephew of Horace has come on strong in past year
6. Anthony McClain, 7-0 center, National Christian Academy (Fort Washington, MD), considering Connecticut, Florida and Georgetown, man in the middle is waiting until spring to make decision
7. Mike Davis, 6-8 combo forward, T.C. Williams High School (Alexandria, VA), A-10 recruit, likely headed to prep school, may get ACC and Big East offers
8. Jayde Gavin, 6-1 combo guard, Bishop McNamara High School (Forestville, MD), Marist, pure shooter is an absolute steal for low-D1 school
9. Adrian Bowie, 6-3 combo guard, Montrose Christian School (Rockville, MD), Maryland, steady senior who hit game-winner to beat Oak Hill last season is now leader of young, nationally-ranked squad
10. Augustus “Gus” Gilchrist, 6-9 power forward, Progressive Christian Academy (Camp Springs, MD), Virginia Tech, true post player will be a factor in the ACC